Day 6 Coffee Cake in the Summer isnt it Great !

Okay after the Cordon bleu experimentations I sort of had this bizzar craving for coffee cake that came out of the blue sort of to speak. For some reason I have had a craving for anise as well. I do not know where this craving came from also. Anyways enough rambling hers the recipe

Sussie Mocha and Anise Coffee Cake

Cake

1 1/2 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 table spoon anise
1 table spoon sussie mocha
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 egg
1/2 cup vegitable oil

Topping

1/4 cup milk
1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven 350

In a bowl mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, anise, cinnamon, egg, and vegitable oil. Stir until it is no longer lumpy. It should be a little thick. Spray square pan about 8 inches by 8 inches and pour batter in to the pan then sprinkle sussie mocha on top, in the same bowl (if you do not want a big mess add flour sugar butter and cinnamon and mix well add a little bit of milk at a time until it makes a thick batter. then pour on top of the cake, and palce into heated oven for 30 minutes keeping a eye on the cake to not burn. - Enjoy!

Day 5 Cookies, Latte, and Cheese Sauce ? ? ? Odd combo but why not!

Okay today is going to be a bit different then normal. On the last date I went on we had papa johns pizza. I love this pizza restaurant, we were sitting out in the car waiting for the pizza to get done, and the guy behind the counter actually brought the pizza out to us, I thought that was pretty good service. So for dinner I had left over pizza and bread sticks. However There was not any cheese sauce for the bread sticks. Normally i dislike the jalapeno taste that most restaurants have for their bread sticks So I made my own cheese dip. I also had a craving for making a new type of cookie, I do not know if the recipe has already been used elsewhere so I was going to look up cookie recipes to see if I actually created my own recipe. But here we go.

Cheese Sauce

1 cup of flour
1/4 to 1/2 cup of water
1/2 package of sliced cheese individually warped (your choice)
2 cups of milk

In a pan heat 2 cups of milk. Start to rip apart into pieces the slices of cheese. To help move the melting process faster you can in a bowl place the ripped cheese in a little bit, 4 tablespoons or so of milk and melt in 45 second intervals. Add the partially melted cheese into the pan of milk, bring to a simmer, warning do not let the cheese sauce or milk come to a rolling boil. The cheese will burn, or the milk will scorch. In another bowl add 1 cup of flour and 1/4 cup of the water. stir well until no lumps are left add more water if needed flour and water mixture should look similar to pancake batter. Cook cheese until it is melted and hot. You can store in the refrigerator but try not to reheat more then once. take what you need from the container. - Enjoy non jalapeno flavored cheese with bread sticks or use it in a Mac and Cheese bake recipe.

James's Suisse Mocha Spritz

1 cup of flour
1/2 cup of butter room temperature
1/4 cup of Crisco
3/4 cup of sugar
1 table spoon Anise
2 tablespoons Cinnamon
2 tablespoons Suisse Mocha Cafe
1 egg

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees

In a bowl mix the Flour Butter Crisco Egg Sugar Anise Cinnamon Suisse Mocha Cafe, If the dough is not the right consistency for cookies add a bit more flour to the batter.
Shape into balls and flatten out, and place in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 5 to 10 minutes, keep an eye so they do not burn.

Suisse Mocha Cafe Latte

In a pan cook 1 cup milk on medium heat until it becomes somewhat foamy on top. add 4 teaspoons of Mocha cafe, and sugar to your taste. I like to add a half teaspoon of vanilla to mine and half and half. This goes well with the Suisse Mocha Spritz.

Day 4: Le Cordon Bleu Simplified Version

Le Cordon Bleu Simplified and yet still complicated for Most

2 chicken breasts
2 cups of Italian Herbs Bread Crumbs
1 package with 6 slices of ham
1 cup of your choice of white cheese
1 tablespoon parsley
1 tablespoon basil
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350, unless you want to wait even longer!

In a bowl beat the egg. In another bowl add the 2 cups of Italian Herbs and Bread Crumbs, 1 tablespoon parsley and 1 table spoon of basil mix well. Cut the chicken in half, or pound it out. Cutting the chicken in half seems to work faster if you have big chicken breasts. Place 3 slices of sliced ham on one half of the chicken breast. Then add the choice of cheese on top of the ham, and place the other half of the chicken on top. Then close the two parts together with tooth picks, if you do it the other way. The complicated and challenging way. (Not really this was just the lazy way) You can pound the chicken out and then place the ham on top with the cheese and roll it, however I did it this way and it seems to work out better. Next place your hopefully closed chicken breast in the bowl of egg if you cant get it all covered keep a barbecue brush handy, then cover well in the bowl of the dry ingredients. Once you have successfully completed this complicated and now probably messy kitchen. . . You can place the Cordon Bleu in a preheated oven at 350 for a half a hour. Take out and let cool. enjoy with cauliflower and broccoli. Bon Appetite!

Day 3 Who needs Complications, when cooking ?

So for something easy for dinner tonight since I totally do not have to go to work at 9'o clock tonight (sorry liebe) I threw something simple together. It might be simple and it may be basic, but it tastes wonderful! Anyways here is the recipe, cant really make a claim to it since it probably is already in circulation.

Italian Chicken with Cornbread

1 lb chicken breast
1 cup of Italian herbs bread crumbs
1/2 cup of Italian blend cheese
1 box of Jiffy corn bread
1 can vegetable spray
1 egg beaten
1 tea spoon powder garlic (optional)
1 tea spoon basil (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Fallow the recipe on the Jiffy cornbread box, then in a bowl beat one egg, in another bowl place the Italian herbs bread crumbs. You can also do this in a large plastic sandwich bag. place the chicken breast and cover it with the egg well. place the egg covered chicken in the bowl and cover it well with the Italian herbs bread crumbs, if your not doing the bowl method put the bread crumbs in the plastic bag and then place the chicken inside the bag and shake well. It saves from having to wash a bowl later. Spray on a cookie sheet the vegetable spray, then place the breaded chicken on the pan and bake for 18 - 20 minutes, you can bake it at the same time as the corn bread, do not forget to keep a eye on the cornbread and fallow the cooking time on its box. When finished sprinkle the half cup of cheese use a little on the corn bread as well its delicious. Melt the cheese either in the oven or the microwave until melted. I sprinkled on the top garlic and basil (optional), enjoy. This only makes one chicken breast.

Day 2 Sassy Sauces and what to use them in!

Sauces are good with a lot of different type of foods. I know I mentioned I am a fan of Asian cuisines in the last post so this one is dedicated to one of my favorites, Yakisobe. Which is basically fried noodles translated from Japanese, Yaki meaning fried. Today I was going to give to you two wonderful sauces as well as a Yakisobe recipe, the sauces I had in mind where home made Terryaki sauces and home made Sweet and Sour sauces. Which are both unbelievably easy and tasty.

Terryaki Sauces

1/4 cup water
2 cups Soy Sauces (I use a imported brand that our local Asian Market Carries)
4 table spoons cornstarch
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 garlic clove
1 tea spoon ginger
1 tablespoon Sesame Seeds

Mix together in a bowl, Soy sauces white sugar brown sugar garlic clove ginger and sesame seeds. bring to a boil, Mix the cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water and add into the mixture. bring to a simmer for 5 minutes. Use right away or refrigerate, it is handy to have a bottle to store it instead of tupperware, the recipe is completely adjustable to your taste, or thickness. For thicker sauce add more cornstarch.


Homemade Sweet and Sour Sauce

1/2 cup of ketchup
2 cup water
5 tablespoons white sugar
5 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon ginger
1/4 cup water
4 tablespoons cornstarch


In a sauce pan mix in 2 cups of water, 1/2 cup of ketchup, white sugar brown sugar stir the sugars until it dissolves, and ginger, bring to a boil, stir occasionally for 5 minutes then bring to a simmer for 5 more minutes. Use right away or refrigerate, it is handy to have a bottle to store it instead of tupperware, the recipe is completely adjustable to your taste, or thickness. For thicker sauce add more cornstarch.

Yakisobe

1 1/6 oz bag of frozen vegetables of your choice
1 package of portabela mushroom pre sliced
1 bag of shrimp 50 - 60 pieces do not for get to take the tails off.
1/2 cup terryaki Sauce or Sweet and Sour
1 package of yakisobe noodles ( you can find it at Asian market it normally comes with 3 in one package, or you can use cooked ramen noodles and drain well.
2 tablespoons sesame oil

In a wok medium to high, heat sesame oil add yakisobe noodles and break them apart, fry for 1-2 minutes and add one package of frozen vegetables, cook until the vegetables are not frozen. meanwhile slice the pre sliced portabela mushrooms in half's, and add to the pan and also add the sauce of your choice, cook for another 1-2 minutes, lastly add in all of the shrimp to the pan and cook for about 3 minutes or until the shrimp are hot. Keep a eye on the shrimp so they do not shrink.

I hope you enjoy these two delightful recipes They are very good You can even use the Terryaki or Sweet and Sour in other dishes as well. Until next time Ja mata kudasai

Cooking Ideas Day 1 ( Introduction and First Meal Idea)

Hello world! I would like to take a moment to go over my purpose for the blog you will hopefully be getting into. I wanted to state that Its going to be about cooking only and ideas for cooking and anything cooking related I find interesting, all drama and stuff will stay here at home away from the blog. It seems to be that every time someone starts a blog that it ends up being a way for them to release their daily anger, or angst. I don’t want to be one of those people who go on and on about their daily stuff on a place that was intended to be fun filled, anyway on to about my cooking skills. I have always loved to cook. I took regular cooking in middle school and tried to help mom out in the kitchen as well. In high school I took the basic cooking 101 class and the advanced cooking course which both where fun classes, and we learned a lot from our teacher about cooking foods from various areas. I do sort of have a hobby for anything Asian, so apologies if the recipes seem Asian oriented a lot of the times, however I am trying to break the habit and do foods from other countries in fact I wouldn’t mind doing recipes at least one from every country. Such as the popular dish from that place, however I will not eat just anything, so there are some recipes I won’t try, however I will mention that if you like it you can add it in if you want as a optional item. I hope that you will get some amazing food ideas and start to incorporate them into your family’s diet. Which is the main reason for this blog is to help people and myself to get away from the same old same old, because I don’t know about you but it gets boring having the same foods all the time. Anyhow I hope you will continue to stay with me as I cook around the world.

The first thing I am going to post is a hearty Chicken Pot pie, made from scratch, Which is a lot better then the kind that you buy at the store, and pop in the microwave for a few minutes. There are some basic requirements needed for baking a Chicken Pot pie.

James's Homemade decedent Chicken Pot Pie

Preheat oven to 400 Degrees

For the crust

2 cups of flour

2 tablespoons of sugar

1 dash of salt

4 table spoons Butter ( I use Stick butter ) chopped into cubes

1 cup of cold water

To make the crust in a bowl add 2 cups of flour sifted, then add the sugar and salt. Add in the cubed butter and with either a fork or a pastry blender mix the cubed butter in well. When its mixed good make a well in the middle, and add about a half cup of water, and mix. Add water as needed until the dough becomes firm. You can add more flour or water if you need to. Once the dough is firm, break in two pieces, place some flour on your counter top or cutting board if your using one and roll out one ball of dough with a rolling pin until the dough is thin. Grease a cake pan and line it with the rolled out dough. Roll out the 2nd ball of dough and set to the side. preheat for 3 to 4 minutes do not cook all the way through. Once done take out and let cool. If you wish to you can refrigerate the dough over night if you do not need to hurry.

Filling

1, 16 oz bag frozen mixed vegetables

1, 16 oz bag of frozen Broccoli and Cauliflower

1-2 lbs of chicken (optional if you want it vegan add more vegetables of your choice )

1 can cream of celery

1 can cream of broccoli

1 table spoon garlic

1 table spoon parsley

1 table spoon basil

2 table spoon oil ( For cooking chicken )

3 tablespoons corn starch ( mixed well in 1/4 cup of water )

In a large pot combine can of cream of celery with a half can of water and a can of broccoli with a half a can of water. cook both bags of frozen vegetables in the celery and broccoli soup mixture. add garlic parsley and basil then bring to a simmer string occasionally. In a pan with oil fry the chicken I cooked mine in peanut oil with sesame seeds. add the chicken into the soup mixture. and cook for another 10 minutes. Turn off the stove and add the corn starch and water mixture and let it thicken up. Pour the soup mixture into the pie crust covered cake pan, It should fill up to the top. Place on top the rolled out dough made earlier on top. Trim the sides with kitchen scissors or by hand. Cut a X in the middle and a stright line between the x's empty spaces about 1/4 inch away from the x and as middle as you can get the line to be cut. For vents. Place the finished pie on a cookie sheet to keep any spills from dripping inside the oven. bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. You can keep the pie for about a week in the refergerator covered. Enjoy !