Tag Archives: recipe

When guests show up, what to munch on from the cupboard?

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This really does not constitute a recipe. But I like to share ideas for entertaining as I find or think of them. With the holidays coming, what are several things to keep on hand at all

Canned Butter Beans with Olive Oil and Pepper.

Canned Butter Beans with Olive Oil and Pepper.

times in case company shows up unexpectedly? 

 

  • Canned Butter Beans
  • Crackers
  • Bottled Olives
  • Bottled Cornichons
  • Cream Cheese or Goat Cheese 
  • Fig Jam and/or Pepper Jelly
  • Fresh Fruit like sliced apples and seedless grapes
  • Sparkling Wine in the fridge

 

 

 

Just place the drained beans in a bowl and drizzle with Olive Oil, and freshly ground pepper and salt. 

Put the drained Olives and Cornichons in little bowls.

Put the cream cheese on a plate and smother it with the Fig Jam or Pepper Jelly. This combination also works well on endive leaves.

Surround the beans and cream or goat cheese with little crackers.

Put the fruit out. 

 

Open the bubbly and enjoy!

 

 

Pommes Anna : Recipe : Easy

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I love making Pommes Anna mainly for the pretty factor. That and of course the ease of making the recipe that you just throw in the oven after preparing. Your kids will also enjoy helping you layer the potatoes. 

 

Sliced Potatoes, Butter, Salt & Pepper.

Sliced Potatoes, Butter, Salt & Pepper.

Ingredients:

 

  • 6 peeled Russet Potatoes, sliced thin. 
  • 1/2 Cup (1 Stick or 4 ounces) Butter, melted in microwave in 10 second increments or alternatively, Olive Oil if you are a Vegan.
  • Salt and Pepper (I used Truffle Salt for an extra layer of flavor. You can add extra flavor as you like with Grated Parmesan Cheese, or Chopped Fresh Rosemary etc…)

 

Use a Pastry Brush to cover an Iron Pan with melted butter

Layer slices of potatoes. 

Brush with butter. Sprinkle salt on top of layer. Continue to layer, butter and salt.

Drizzle the remaining butter over the potatoes. 

Bake in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 35-45 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the potatoes are cooked through.

Just bake until golden brown. Slice like a pie.

Just bake until golden brown. Slice like a pie.

Slice like a pie and top with sour cream. A great gluten free side for any dinner.

Pralines Recipe : Authentic and Easy

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Pralines - can you eat just one?

Pralines – can you eat just one?

There is a restaurant in Santa Monica that we like to eat at called El Cholo. They offer Pralines at the end of the meal. Then, I found this delicious, easy Southern Praline’s recipe in an old cookbook that my husband’s parents purchased in the 1950’s while on a trip of the Southwest here in the good old USA. I made them to bring as a dessert to a dinner party recently and while I knew they were good, everyone flipped out. Good thing this recipe is so easy.

 

 

Pralines - 4 Ingredients.

Pralines – 4 Ingredients.

  • 1 1/2 Cups Brown Sugar
  • 1/4 Cup milk or cream
  • 2 Tablespoons Butter
  • 1 Cup Pecans

 

Pralines Recipe - YumHeat the sugar and milk in a saucepan. Stir it often until it starts to thicken.

 

Add pecans and butter. Then, drop onto wax paper. Done!

Add pecans and butter. Then, drop onto wax paper. Done!

Add the pecans and the butter. Cool off the flame and drop by spoonfuls on a buttered surface or wax paper. Done! Salty, sweet, nutty crunch – just yum.

 

I think I may make these in batches to give out this holiday. 

Chinese Cold Spicy Sesame Noodles – a la Shorty Tang’s recipe

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Pasta like Spaghetti can be used instead of the Noodles in most recipes.

Pasta like Spaghetti can be used instead of Chinese Noodles or Soba in many recipes.

There’s a restaurant in Manhattan Beach that serves a great spicy sesame noodle recipe topped with peanuts that I was seriously craving the other night. When I worked at Cheesecake Factory, we had a similar dish called the Peking Salad although I don’t believe it is on the menu any longer. As I pondered how to recreate either of the sweet, salty, nutty, tangy noodle dishes, I wondered if there were an authentic, original version for Spicy Cold Sesame Noodles. 

 

After some research, I learned that there is actually a guy named Tang Win Fat, nick-named Shorty Tang who legend has it, is responsible for the first cold, sesame noodle

Shorty Tang gets credit for inventing the Cold Spicy Noodle Recipe

Shorty Tang was a well known New York restauranteur who invented the Chinese Cold Spicy Noodle Recipe.

recipe. His story is featured on his grandson’s WordPress Blog RiceWineVinegar and he was also featured in a story about his historical New York restaurant and in the recipes section in the New York Times. Shorty Tang was born in 1926 in Sichuan’s Nianchang, worked in restaurants starting at the age of 12, and left China for Taiwan in 1946 where he worked as a street vendor before opening his first restaurant there. Then, he moved to Queens, NY in 1967 and opened a restaurant in Manhattan’s Chinatown which was famous for among other dishes, his Cold Sesame Noodles. This recipe is supposed to replicate Shorty’s but I’ve also listed Madame Wong’s recipe below it which I just happened to have found (strange coincidence) when making a version of her Chinese Lemon Chicken recipe. We served these noodles with a simple Pork Loin Roast and it was a great pairing. 

 

 

 

The easy way to add Fresh Ginger to any recipe. Freeze it, then grate it in.

The easy way to add Fresh Ginger to any recipe. Freeze it, then grate it in.

  • 8 ounces Chinese Egg Noodles or Soba or Spaghetti, cooked and cooled. 
  • 4 Tablespoons Soy Sauce or Tamari 
  • 2 Tablespoons Sesame Oil
  • 2 Tablespoons Rice Wine Vinegar
  • 1 Tablespoon Peanut Butter
  • 1 Tablespoon Sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon Red Chili Paste (or Chili and Garlic Paste or even Sriracha Sauce)
  • 1 Tablespoon Grated Fresh Ginger 
  • 1 Tablespoon Chopped Fresh Garlic
  • 2 Tablespoons Sesame Paste (I forgot this ingredient and it still tasted amazing!)
  • 1/2 Cup Chopped Peanuts
  • 4 Chopped Green Onions
  • 1/2 Red Bell Pepper, diced (my addition)
  • 2 Cups Spinach Leaves (my addition)
  • Feel free to add any other vegetables you like (like broccoli, bean sprouts, celery, cucumber etc…)
  • Feel free to add egg, tofu, leftover chicken, ham or turkey. 

 

Make noodles per package instructions. Drain and rinse in cold water. 

I add Spinach, Peppers and Grated Carrots to the mix.

I add Spinach, Peppers and Grated Carrots to the mix.

When cool, mix all ingredients with the sauce. Done.

 

 

 

As an alternative, here is Madame Wong’s Easy Cold Spicy Noodles Sauce Recipe Ingredients (a quicker, easier version but both recipes are delicious):

 

  • 1 Tablespoon Red Chili Sauce (or Chili and Garlic or Sriracha Sauce)
  • 1/4 Cup Sesame Oil
  • 1/4 Cup Soy Sauce or Tamari
  • 1/4 Cup Rice or Regular Vinegar
  • Salt and pepper to taste

 

Either of these recipes work well for a kids’ lunch, or to bring to a picnic or a party although I would use Cashew or Almond Butter and Cashews instead of Peanuts as you never know who might be allergic if you’re sharing this dish with a crowd. Summer is over, but it is still warm in California. Jackson Brown just played at the Santa Monica Pier last weekend. So, I will eat these noodles until it starts to rain and think of Shorty and his lovely family and how even a single recipe can touch so many for years down the road.