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Chocolate Cherry Cookies

12:30 PM |

missing the white chips, but still good
We’ve now arrive at my favorite time of year, Fall. The stores are stocked with Halloween decorations, candy and costumes. I love this time of year most of all because I get to make my favorite fall treats. Get ready for many recipes calling for pumpkins, corn, gourds, ham, turkey, gravy, stuffing and pies. I am always being inspired by the old and the new. What inspires me the most in the kitchen is family and tradition? I am a firm believer that families should create their own traditions.

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Posted by Rue

Brine Chicken in Salt Water

6:06 PM |

Whole Chicken Brining in Bag
I was looking to do something special with three chicken breasts. I first learned about brining meat when I found a recipe reproducing KFC chicken. Before KFC prepares their chicken, they soak it in salt water. Just plain old salt water. Salt water is the most basic brine for poultry and foul. It causes water and salt to be drawn into the chicken´s flesh making it more juicy. Brining chicken makes a big difference. It should be done at the bare minimum, four hours before cooking. Brining prevents your chicken from drying out while cooking it. 


Two major processes at work during brining:
  • Diffusion. This is when particles move from a region of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration. For example, when you're brining chicken, the brine has a lot more salt in it that the chicken. To balance things out, the salt gets absorbed by the chicken — not just on the surface, but all through the meat (although it does take a bit of time).
  • Osmosis. This is when water (or another liquid) moves through a membrane from one region that has more water to another region that has less water. When you brine chicken, you're creating just that situation: the brine has a lot more water than the chicken, so the water moves through the chicken cells, from the brine to the chicken. The result? Moister chicken!


 Instead of just salt, this would be an excellent time to add other flavorings to the brine...sugar, juniper berries, whole allspice berries, pepper berries, etc. It is recommended to first boil the additional flavorings, allow the brine to cool, then add the meat. This is called boiled brine, but remember...do not put your chicken in hot water, the water must be cold. 

 Brining is an easy way to get extra flavor into meat as well as moisture. I have not had a chance to brine my poultry yet, this is the first I heard about it. I will be sure to try it. 

 Today I made fried chicken with a twist

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Posted by Rue

My blackberry cordial is done!

1:00 PM |

Bottled it up in an old vodka bottle. 
I must confess that when I first strained the berries I made a huge mess. About half a bottle of blackberry cordial ended up in the sink. I was pretty upset. But the cordial turned out lovely. It had a smooth taste of blackberry and it was also intoxicating. I felt it after one drink. So - go easy on this stuff. It will get you trashed.


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Posted by Rue

Blackberry Cobbler By Naomi

12:30 AM |

Yesterday I decided to start using up some of my frozen blackberries. Here is my recipe for you guys. Since the serving was so small, only two ramekins, there are no measurements that I can give you. Just follow along and you should not have a problem.


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Posted by Rue

chocolate and vanilla swirl pancakes

1:36 PM |

These were super simple to make. Just separate the batter to two bowls. In one, add vanilla extract, in the other add chocolate and sugar. Be careful not to cook these too slowly! This is a fast process and not for a novice. 

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Posted by Rue

How to Make Perfectly round cookies

1:29 PM |

Have you ever wanted to make perfectly round cookies without a cookie cutter? It takes awhile, you will have to refrigerate or freeze the dough.


 Here are my photos. As usual, I take pictures of the entire process. 

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Posted by Rue

Over 60 ways to make chicken in Videos

1:00 PM |

Here is another fantastic playlist from Chef John - Over Sixty Videos about how to make Chicken. Super!


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Posted by Rue

How to make a spicy Chinese Peanut Sauce

4:57 PM |

This was a fun recipe to make. At the Seattle Library I checked out a book 500 Chinese Recipes. (image linked to the right). I thumbed through the book and found that many of the recipes had the same ingredients, rice vinegar, rice wine, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sugar, pepper paste, fish oil, sesame oil, szechuan pepper, hoisin sauce...and a few others that escape me for the moment. 

 I like things that are spicy. On a scale of 1 - 10, I like my hot factor to be about a 6.5 or a 7. Once in awhile I will take it up to an 8. 
Basic Ingredients for a Spicy Chipotle Peanut Sauce
Continue reading this blog for the recipe and photos.

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Posted by Rue

Perfect Brunch

4:13 PM |

I have often wondered what constitutes the perfect ' brunch'. Is it suppose to be a real combination between breakfast and lunch? Like a pancake sandwich? Or a breakfast soup?

This morning I put together a little brunch for my husband. It consisted of stuffed eggs, grilled tomatoes, and potato pancakes.


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Posted by Rue

Chef John's Pasta Playlist

5:47 PM |

Good Afternoon Everybody!

 While my husband is at work, and I am missing him terribly, I decided to use my free time learning some new recipes from one of my all time favorite Chefs - Chef John. I chatted with him back in 2006 when I was living in Paris. He helped me put together a nice little menu of all American food that I could present to my friends.

Today I jumped over to his channel to see what was cooking. (pun intended) . I decided that today I would do something a little different and embed an entire playlist of Chef John Pasta Recipes. If you are planning on opening an Italian restaurant - just watch this playlist. You are set.

 There are forty four videos here. I hope you take the time to watch them all. 

 Cheers!!!


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Posted by Rue

How To Make Mustard Videos

8:20 PM |

Homemade Mustards

Today I wrote a little blurb in Naomi´s Garden, about how to grow and cultivate mustard. That blog lead me here. How to make your own mustard!

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup dry mustard
  • 1/2 cup white vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 2 tablespoons white sugar
  • 3 egg yolks, beaten

Directions

  1. In a heavy saucepan combine mustard, vinegar, salt, pepper and sugar. Simmer over low heat for 3 hours.
  2. Beat egg yolks into mixture and stir until thickened. Pour into hot, sterilized jars and seal. Cool at room temperature and store in the refrigerator.


Continue Reading for some easy tutorial videos! How to make your own Mustard from scratch!

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Posted by Rue

Berry Orange Muffins

3:47 PM |

.

Mixed berry orange muffin made with blueberries, blackberries and orange juice concentrate. Follow standard muffin making instructions. Mix the dry ingredients separately (flour, baking powder, salt) Mix the wet ingredients separately (sugar, milk, juice, butter). Mix just until incorporated. Do Not over mix this batter because the muffins will come out stiff. A few spots of flour is okay. Bake at 350 until golden and delicious.

 After baking the muffins, I made an orange glaze and a blackberry glaze. I drizzled both glazes on the cooling muffins. They looked and tasted wonderful!

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Posted by Rue

Making Wine and Alcohol

10:30 AM |

http://www.sterlingwineonline.com
I took the boys to the Seattle library today. I checked out a few cookbooks. Bread, Cookies, Holiday treats...and how to make wine at home. Life is really amazing. So many things that I do not know! It  makes life wonderful.

 I read a few chapters of wine making, then looked up some unfamiliar terms. There are suppliers all over the country that will sell equipment to make beer, liqueur, wine, and soda. There is so much to learn and take it, I am only getting started.

 Although I am not much of a drinker, I will certainly enjoy making alcohol (particularly wine), for my friends and family. Featured below are several tutorial videos about how to make different kinds of alcohol. At the end of this blog I am going to link some suppliers.

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Posted by Rue

Blackberry Orange Cobbler - Low Calorie Recipe

3:05 PM |

-Low Calorie Blackberry Orange Cobbler-
Orange-Blackberry cobbler is as fantastic low calorie dessert. This dessert calls for fresh, ripe blackberries and orange concentrate! Yummy!

 In a previous post, Paula Dean´s Peach Cobbler, I posted a Paula Dean video showing how to make the cobbler. For further instructions, click on the link above and watch the video.

  Follow her instructions step-by-step, but use my ingredients.

  She will insist that you use butter instead of margarine. You can use margarine. The crust will be fine. The filling is going to be so delicious, that you will not miss the butter. So please go to my previous post about how to make a Peach Cobbler.  Using Splenda cuts out a lot of the calories. So even though this is not the lightest dessert, it is significantly lighter than many other baked pastry or cobbler.

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Posted by Rue

Naomi´s Blackberry Wheat Bread Recipe

2:42 PM |


I made my first loaf of wheat bread last night. As usual, I photograph the entire process from beginning to end. I have some great photos here....

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Posted by Rue
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