Raspberry Grape Sparklers

Author: easycooking

INGREDIENTS

* 1 cup red seedless grapes (30 grapes)
* 1 cup raspberries or strawberries
* ice cubes, to serve
* 2 cups seltzer water , chilled (we used lemon sparkling mineral water)
* Splenda sugar substitute , to taste (we liked 3 packets per glass for a sweet taste)
* minced fresh mint , to taste (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. In a blender, combine grapes and raspberries; puree until smooth.
2. Strain mixture into a pitcher. I found rubbing the back of a spoon in a circular motion against the mesh helps get the juice through. Discard seeds. You should end up with a cup of juice.
3. Fill 4 (8-ounce) glasses with ice. Pour 1/4 cup of fruit juice into each glass and top with seltzer.
4. Stir in Splenda and mint if desired to serve.
5. To make it pretty you can put some raspberries, mint leaves and grapes on toothpicks and garnish the drink.

Double-Cranberry Molded Salad Recipe

Author: danky

Michael McLaughlin, cookbook author, says “When I was much younger, the requisite Thanksgiving cranberry sauce always came out of a can and lay quivering on the plate, just waiting to be sliced and served. As I got older, I came to prefer the whole-berry-style sauce to the smooth. Then, once I began making my own cranberry sauces from scratch, I settled on a great-tasting compromise: This recipe features tangy bits of cranberry in a smooth jewel-toned mold.”

Makes 8 to 10 servings.

INGREDIENTS
# 3 1/2 cups cranberry juice cocktail
# 41/4-ounce envelopes unflavored gelatin
#
# 212-ounce bags cranberries
# 2 1/4cups sugar
# 2tablespoons fresh lemon juice
# 1 1/4cups finely chopped celery
DIRECTIONS

Pour 1 cup cranberry juice into small bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over. Let stand until gelatin softens, about 20 minutes.
Combine cranberries and sugar in processor. Blend, using on/off turns, until cranberries are finely chopped. Transfer berry mixture to heavy large saucepan; add remaining 2 1/2 cups cranberry juice and lemon juice. Bring berry mixture to boil over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to medium, cover pan partially and simmer until cranberry pieces are tender, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat. Add gelatin mixture and stir until gelatin dissolves. Cool to lukewarm, about 30 minutes. Mix in celery.
Rinse 8- to 9-cup decorative mold with cold water and drain well. Spoon cranberry mixture into mold. Cover and refrigerate until cold and firm, at least 8 hours and up to 2 days.
Turn mold over onto platter. Soak kitchen towel in very hot water; wring out. Wrap hot towel around mold. Let stand 1 minute. Remove towel. Hold mold and platter together and shake gently until cranberry salad falls onto platter. Repeat with hot towel if necessary to unmold salad. Chill until ready to serve.

Butternut-Corn Chowder with Goat Cheese Croutons Recipe

Author: danky

Lane Crowther, A contributing editor at Bon Appétit, says that “For twenty-five years our family endured side dishes of canned creamed corn and sweetened baked squash—simply for the sake of tradition. With this soup, I was finally able to convince everyone that a few classic Thanksgiving ingredients (like corn and squash) could be combined in a delicious new way.”

Makes 8 to 10 servings.

INGREDIENTS
# 4ounces chilled soft fresh goat cheese (such as montrachet), cut into 1-inch-thick rounds
# 2large eggs, beaten to blend
# 1/2cup yellow cornmeal4ounces 1/4-inch-thick slices pancetta or 4 thick bacon slices, chopped
# 1medium onion, chopped
# 12 1/4-pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded, coarsely chopped
# 4 1/2cups canned roasted-garlic chicken broth or low-salt chicken broth
# 2teaspoons minced canned chipotle chilies*
# 116-ounce bag frozen sweet white corn (unthawed)2tablespoons olive oil2teaspoons minced fresh sage
DIRECTIONS

Cut each cheese round into 8 wedges. Place eggs in small bowl. Place cornmeal in another bowl; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Working in batches, dip cheese into eggs, then into cornmeal, turning to coat. Press cornmeal gently to adhere. Place on baking sheet. Freeze 1 hour.


Cook pancetta in heavy large saucepan over medium heat until crisp, about 8 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer pancetta to paper towels. Add onion to drippings in pan; sauté until just tender, about 4 minutes. Add butternut squash, broth and chilies; simmer until squash is tender, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Mix in corn; simmer until tender, about 8 minutes. Transfer 3 1/2 cups soup to blender; puree. Mix puree into remaining soup in pan. Season with salt and pepper. (Pancetta and soup can be made 8 hours ahead. Cover pancetta; chill. Chill soup uncovered until cold, then cover and keep chilled. Bring pancetta to room temperature before continuing.)
Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add frozen cheese; brown well, about 1 minute per side.


Meanwhile, bring soup to simmer. Mix in sage. Ladle soup into bowls. Top with pancetta and cheese croutons.


*Sold at Latin American markets, specialty foods stores and some supermarkets.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes With Dried Longans And Almonds

(For Six)

4 sweet potatoes
2 tbs olive oil
2 tbs honey
1 tps fresh lemon juice
A pinch of salt
1/2 cup dried longans
1/2 cip almond slivers (available in packets)

METHOD
Preheat oven to 180 deg C.
Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into chunks and pout in a small baking dish.
In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, honey and lemon juice. Pour mixture over potatoes and toss to coat.
Sprinkle with salt and bake, stirring occasionally, for about one hour, until potatoes are tender.
Ten minutes before the end, scatter the dried longans, rinsed briefly in water to moisten, add the almond slivers and toss.
Serve in small bowls to eat at the end of a meal or at any times as a snack.

Picture Resources: google.com

Article Resources: The Strait Times

Mongolian Beef

By Alan Beggerow

This is a recipe that reflects the cooking techniques of northern China. The meaty flavor of this dish has made it popular, even with folks who don't usually like Chinese food.

Sauce:

2 teaspoons peanut oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2-cup soy sauce

1/2-cup water

1/2-cup brown sugar

1/2-teaspoon ginger, minced

1/4-cup hoisin sauce

Other ingredients:

1 lb. Flank steak or sirloin

12 green onions

1/4cup cornstarch

Heat peanut oil in saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic, ginger, water, and hoisin. Add brown sugar and stir to dissolve. Raise heat to being mixture to a boil, and boil for 3 minutes or until the sauce turns thick. Remove from fire and set aside.

Cut steak across the grain into very thin strips. Coat meat with cornstarch and allow to sit for at least ten minutes. While meat sits, cut green onions into 1-inch pieces on a diagonal, and prepare chilies if you're going to use them.

Heat wok. When hot, put in one cup of vegetable oil. When oil is ready, add cornstarch- coated meat and stir-fry until the edges of the meat turn brown. Remove meat with a slotted spoon. Remove oil and place meat back into wok. Pour prepared sauce over meat and stir-fry for one minute. Add green onions and stir-fry for another minute. Serve over brown rice.

This dish is many times prepared in Szechwan style with hot peppers. To prepare this way, take two jalapeños or other hot peppers of comparable size and cut them into thin strips, add them with the green onions towards the end of cooking

Alan Beggerow owns and operates Cathleen's Bargain Basement, an online business that offers custom made apparel and hand crafted teddy bears by Cathleen, and also offers a selection of jewelry, home decor, Asian motif items, and much more. http://www.cathleensbargainbasement.com

Alan Beggerow is also a free lance writer. Visit his writing services website, Ghostwriter, at http://www.ghostwriterboo.blogspot.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alan_Beggerow

Ratatouille Recipe

By Kim Steele

Ratatouille is a wonderfully versatile dish that you can easily fix in under 20 minutes if you follow my method.

I was cooking ratatouille long before I moved to the south of France and discovered that it had a name. I always called it vegetarian spaghetti sauce. I'd go to the grocery store and find the freshest, tastiest looking vegetables available. When I got home I'd put two big solid pots on the stove, one filled with hot water for the pasta, and the other to cook the sauce in. I always started with onions, put them in the pot with a generous amount of olive oil (vegetarians get to do things like that - use lots of olive oil), and than kept chopping vegetables and adding them to the pot as I went. I soon learned the best order to add vegetables to the sauce.

Fussy French Ratatouille

When I got to France I ran out and bought a fancy French cookbook - Larousse de la Cuisine. It is a wonderful book and is now falling to pieces after years of use. Some of the recipes though I find a bit humorous in their complexity and their ratatouille recipe is one of them. It has all of the classic ingredients of ratatouille (onions, bell peppers, eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes), but it requires you to cook each of these ingredients separately before assembling them into another pot. For me, that destroys the charm of ratatouille.

Ratatouille the Easy Way

I always imagine someone stepping from their kitchen out into their vegetable garden on a hot summer afternoon. They pick whatever is ready to be eaten that evening, and that is what goes into the ratatouille. As for cooking it, you really should try my method of chopping as you cook. Ratatouille goes together perfectly like this.

What to serve it with

Ratatouille goes with so many things and you can vary the ingredients (both the vegetables and the herbs) depending on what you have available. Do you remember how in the movie of the same name the rat fancied up ratatouille? You can do the same if you wish. Serve it hot or cold. With an omelette or a vegetable terrine. Serve it on pasta or simply with bread. Sprinkle it with cheese if you wish. The French like it with different meats, poultry and fish. I add hot pepper sometimes. Now that is definitely not French, but it is very good.

Here's my recipe, and please change it as you see fit and don't forget to enjoy all of those lovely vegetables as you are chopping them up. They are gorgeous you know! Bon appetit.

Ratatouille

1/4 cup olive oil

2 onions, slivered

3 bell peppers, cut into one inch squares(try different colors)

2 eggplants, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

2 zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

4 cloves garlic, minced or crushed

2 pounds tomatoes, chopped

1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme

salt and pepper

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

Heat olive oil in a heavy soup pot on medium heat. Sliver onions and add to oil.

While the onions cook, chop the bell peppers and add them to the pot, stirring well.

Chop the eggplants and add to the pot, stirring well to coat the eggplant with oil. At this point all the olive oil will have soaked into the eggplant, so you need to stir often to keep things from burning until they soften some.

Chop the zucchini and stir it in once the eggplant has softened a bit.

Chop the garlic and add to the vegetables, stirring well.

Chop the tomatoes and add them.

Chop the thyme and add it along with salt and pepper to taste. Stir well and cook two minutes.

Turn down heat and cover the pot. Simmer until everything is soft and well blended - about 40 minutes.

Stir in basil and remove from heat.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Are you interested in learning more about French food and culture? You'll find lots of easy French recipes and fun food facts at http://www.easy-french-food.com I've been living and cooking in France for the past 17 years and would love to share with you my love of simple good food. Don't forget to enjoy your food today.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kim_Steele

Basic Pizza Dough

By Alan Beggerow

This dough uses olive oil and two packets of rapid rise yeast to create a basic pizza dough.

6 cups (approximately) white flour

1/4 cup corn meal

2 tablespoons sugar

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups warm water

2 packages rapid rise yeast

This dough can be made in any kind of electric mixer that is heavy duty enough for dough making. Use a dough hook in the mixer. It can also be done by hand with a wooden spoon, but expect a real workout doing it this way!

Put warm water in a large bowl. Add yeast and mix thoroughly. Add sugar and olive oil. Mix thoroughly. Add 2 cups of the flour and corn meal. Mix until a smooth batter forms. Add flour one cup at a time, mix thoroughly before adding the next cup, until 3 cups have been added. Add half of the remaining cup of flour, mix and turn out onto a floured board to knead. Knead dough, adding flour as needed, until the dough is smooth and not real sticky. THe amount of flour you'll use depends on the humidity and temperature, so the flour amount is not exact. Roll dough into a ball. Oil the inside of a a large bowl. Put dough in the bowl, then turn over. Cover with plastic wrap and put in a warm place to rise.

Because of the two packets of rapid rise yeast used, the dough should double in size in about 30 minutes. punch the dough down, and let rise again. Punch down dough, and it is ready to use. This versatile dough can be used for pizza, Italian bread, stromboli, calzone, or focaccia.

Substitute 1-2 cups of whole wheat flour for the white flour to get a slightly heavier and tasty dough.

Alan Beggerow owns and operates Cathleen's Bargain Basement, an online business that offers custom made apparel and hand crafted teddy bears by Cathleen, and also offers a selection of jewelry, home decor, Asian motif items, and much more. http://www.cathleensbargainbasement.com

Alan Beggerow is also a free lance writer. Visit his writing services website, Ghostwriter, at http://www.ghostwriterboo.blogspot.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alan_Beggerow

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Terry_Morgan]Terry Morgan

Stuffed cabbage is a perennial favorite. Give this recipe a try the next time you're in the mood. Leftovers can be refrigerated and reheated the next day if necessary.


1 medium head cabbage
1 teaspoon vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup uncooked rice
2 stalks celery, finely diced
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 pound ground beef
1 egg
1 can condensed tomato soup
2 tablespoons red wine
1 tablespoon parsley flakes
1 tablespoon instant minced onion
Dash of pepper
1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
4 slices bacon

Oven: 400/350 degrees

Cut the core out of the cabbage. Put the cabbage in a kettle with enough water to cover. Add the vinegar and a half-teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil, removing a few cabbage leaves at a time as they wilt. You will need 20-25 leaves.

Cook the rice in one cup of water with a half-teaspoon of salt ten minutes, or until only partially cooked. Drain if necessary. Saute the celery in the butter about five minutes.

Put the beef in a large bowl. Add the remaining one teaspoon of salt, the rice, celery, egg, half the condensed soup, the red wine, parsley flakes, onion, and pepper. Mix well with hands.

Put a spoonful of the beef mixture in the center of each cabbage leaf. Fold both sides in, then roll up. Secure with toothpicks and arrange in a 13x9x2-inch baking dish.

Mix the remaining soup, 1-1/2 soup cans of water, and the tomato paste. Pour over the cabbage rolls and top with bacon. Cover dish with a lid or foil and bake at 400 degrees for one hour.

Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake a half hour longer. Makes eight to ten servings.

Terry Morgan invites you to sample many more (300+!) tasty and tantalizing recipes of all kinds at [http://greatrecipesdaily.blogspot.com]Great Recipes Weekly. Visit today and jazz up your cooking.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Terry_Morgan http://EzineArticles.com/?Stuffed-Cabbage-Rolls&id=1155935

Whole Wheat English Muffins

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Terry_Morgan]Terry Morgan

Why buy from the store when you can make your own fresh muffins?


1 cup milk
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoon margarine
1 envelope active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3 1/2 cups (about) all-purpose flour
Cornmeal

Scald the milk and stir in the sugar, salt, and margarine. Cool to warm (105 - 110 degrees F). Measure one cup of warm (same temperature) water into a large warm bowl. Sprinkle with the yeast, then stir until yeast is dissolved.

Stir in the milk mixture, then stir in the whole-wheat flour and 1 1/2 cups of the all-purpose flour. Beat with a spoon until smooth. Add enough additional flour to make a stiff dough.

Turn out onto a floured board and knead two to three minutes, or until the dough can be formed into a ball (note: dough may be sticky). Put the dough in a greased bowl, turning over to grease all sides. Cover and let rise in a warm place one hour, or until doubled in bulk.

Punch the dough down with lightly floured fingertips. Divide the dough in half. On a board heavily sprinkled with cornmeal, pat each half into a half-inch thickness. Cut with a three-inch cookie cutter and put about two inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.

Let rise in a warm place a half hour, or until doubled in bulk. Cook on a lightly greased medium-hot griddle or skillet until well-browned on both sides, about ten minutes on each side. Cool on racks. To serve, split muffins and toast. Makes about eighteen muffins.

Terry Morgan invites you to sample many more (300+!) tasty and tantalizing recipes of all kinds at [http://greatrecipesdaily.blogspot.com]Great Recipes Weekly. Visit today and jazz up your cooking.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Terry_Morgan http://EzineArticles.com/?Whole-Wheat-English-Muffins&id=1155943

Indian Style Chinese Hot Garlic

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Jeya_Lakshmi]Jeya Lakshmi

Chicken hot garlic recipe for Indian Style Chinese Hot and Spicy Garlic Chicken containing small boneless breast pieces Chicken chopped Garlic Red Chili Powder Tomato Sauce. I make Garlic Chicken at home as a main dish, so the ratio of meat is higher than many Chinese recipes. Delicious sauce recipe you can easily cook. Authentic and healthy Chinese food that is easy and quick to cook.

These wings are sweet and sticky like candy! The sauce can be reheated and poured over a side dish of rice. Make sure to bring the sauce to a boil, and simmer for several minutes to kill any bacteria that may be present. The place I frequent on campus is currently serving Buffalo Chicken on Garlic Wraps and I'm curious as to what that'd be like.

1. Heat honey, soy sauce, and garlic in a saucepan until boiling.

2. Place the wings in the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking pan, and pour the honey mixture over the chicken. Cover with foil. Marinate in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight.

3. Bake, covered, at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 1 hour; turn the wings after 1/2 hour. Remove the foil cover, and bake for 15 minutes. Take the wings out of the sauce, and bake on a rack for 10 minutes. Turn the chicken wings, and cook for another 10 minutes. [http://indomunch.com/Chicken.html]Chicken hot garlic is a great chicken dish. Hot Garlic Chicken Saute Recipes selected by the collective taste buds of the masses from Group Recipes. Some garlic chicken recipes involve roasting a whole chicken. That's great - if you've got both the time and enough people to eat the chicken!

Please purchase online http://www.indomunch.com in New York city.

Representing the website http://www.indomunch.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jeya_Lakshmi http://EzineArticles.com/?Indian-Style-Chinese-Hot-Garlic&id=1162037