Sesame Green Beans

3/4 pound green beans - look for trimmed, raw packaged beans in your produce department
Salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 2 turns of the pan
1 red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
3 tablespoons tamari aged soy sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
Directions
Cut green beans into 2-inch pieces on an angle. Place in a skillet. Add water, salt, to taste and cook beans 5 minutes, then drain beans. Place the skillet back on stove and add vegetable oil. Heat pan over high heat until oil smokes. Add the beans and red peppers and stir-fry 2 minutes. Add the soy and sesame oil and transfer to a serving dish. Garnish with sesame seeds and serve"

Marinated Flank Steak with Wasabi Mashed Potatoes

2 inches fresh ginger root, peeled and grated

1/4 cup tamari aged soy sauce
2 limes, zested and juiced
3 tablespoons vegetable oil, eyeball it
2 tablespoons grill seasoning (recommended: Montreal Steak Seasoning)
2 pounds flank steak
2 1/2 to 3 pounds Idaho potatoes, 4 large potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
Salt
1/4 to 1/3 cup cream
2 tablespoons wasabi paste 
4 scallions, root end trimmed
Handful cilantro leaves

Preheat a grill pan or indoor/outdoor grill to high.
Combine ginger, tamari, lime juice, oil and grill seasoning in a large seal able plastic bag. Add meat to marinade and coat evenly. Let stand 10 minutes then grill meat 6 to 7 minutes on each side.
Place potatoes in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, salt the potatoes and cook until tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain potatoes and add them back to the hot pot. Smash the potatoes with a masher to desired consistency with the cream and wasabi. Adjust salt, to taste.
While potatoes and meat cook, finely chop the scallions together with cilantro and lime zest.
Let meat rest 5 minutes then thinly slice on an angle against the grain. Serve meat on mash potato mounds with a garnish with a generous sprinkling of the chopped scallion-cilantro-lime zest."

Thumbprint Cookies

These are the best I have ever tasted and believe me I have tried many trying to make these cookies.

Heat oven to 375

1 cup butter at room temp

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 large eggs separated
1/2 tea. vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tea salt
1 1/2 cups finely chopped nuts, ( I have used almond, pecan and walnuts. Almond or pecan is my favorite. I have a friend who was one of the bakers for Safeway who loved them so much with walnuts he asked for the recipe and started selling them in the bakery over 25 years ago in Morgan hill.

raspberry jam (or your favorite, we like them with raspberry with seeds)

In a large bowl beat butter with sugar until creamy. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla. In another bowl mix flour and salt, slowly add to butter mixture.
In another bowl lightly beat egg whites with fork.
Roll dough into balls dip each in egg white and roll in nuts press thumb in middle. bake for 15 minutes, cool and fill with jam.

Beef Stew

 

2 1/4 lbs. Chuck roast, trimmed of excess fat, cut into cubes

1/4 cup all-purpose flour 

2 Tbsp tomato paste 

41/2 cups beef stock

1 package brown gravy mix

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce 

1 tsp thyme

2 bay leaves

2 pounds red potatoes, scrubbed and rinsed clean

4 large carrots

Preheat oven to 300 and heat pan on stove top Move oven rack to lower third of the oven

Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large oven safe pot over medium-high heat.

Dab half of the roast dry with paper towels, season lightly with salt and pepper then add to the pot with space between pieces.

Sear until browned on bottom, about 3 – 4 minutes. Turn and brown on opposite side, about 2 minutes longer. Transfer to a plate

Add another 1/2 Tbsp oil to pot and repeat process with remaining half of beef. Transfer second batch of beef to the plate as well.

Reduce heat to medium, add 1 Tbsp olive oil then add onions. Saute 5 minutes or until slightly golden brown. Add garlic and saute 30 seconds longer.

Stir in flour and tomatoes paste, and cook stirring constantly, about 45 to 60 seconds While stirring slowly pour beef stock in and scrape up browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Add Worcestershire sauce and gravy pack.

add herbs and simmer: Return beef to pot 

Cover pot with the lid and transfer to the oven. Let cook 1 1/2 hours .

Once time is almost up cut the potatoes into 1-inch cubes, then peel and cut the carrots into 1-inch slices. Stir potatoes and carrots into stew then cover and return to the oven.

Bake until vegetables are tender, about 1 1/2-2 hours longer. 

Remove bay leaves,  season stew with salt and pepper to taste.

Chicken Noodle Soup

 Went to Costco and picked up a rotisserie chicken, more out of habit because I use to buy them to make my dogs food with them. Well my husband ate the legs and I ate a wing then had all the chicken leftover. Since it is a cold day I figured it would be a good day for chicken noodle soup.

I should call this anything in the kitchen soup.

1 Tbl olive oil

1 onion, chopped

3 stalks celery, chopped

Leftover rotisserie chicken, chopped

1 bag of frozen mixed vegetables ( mine had corn, peas, green beans and carrots)

10 cups water (or chicken broth)

Better then bouillon chicken (add as much as you like, I like mine to have a rich chicken flavor so I add a few tablespoons)

Half a bag of egg noodles.

1 tsp Oregano

1 tsp basil

Salt and pepper to taste.

Heat olive oil in large pot, toss in onions and cook for a couple of minutes, add celery and cook for a few more minutes. Add remaining ingredients bring to a boil turn down pot and cook for 20 minutes.

If you're feeding a large crowd just up your water add more bouillon to it and the whole bag of egg noodles and more vegetables.

This is a really fast easy meal. My husband keeps talking about how good it is.

Black Forrest Cake

 

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon espresso powder

1 cup milk or buttermilk

1/2 cup vegetable oil 

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup boiling water

2 cups heavy cream

1/4 cup powder sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Cherry pie filling. 

1.  Preheat oven to 350 Prepare two 9-inch cake pans by spraying with baking spray.

2.  Add flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder to a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk through to combine or, using your paddle attachment, stir through flour mixture until combined well.

3.  Add milk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla to flour mixture and mix together on medium speed until well combined. Reduce speed and carefully add boiling water to the cake batter until well combined.

4.  Distribute cake batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center of the chocolate cake comes out clean.

5.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes, remove from the pan and cool completely.

6.  Whip whipping cream with vanilla and powder sugar until still.

7.  Lay first layer of cake on board or plate, add a little whipped cream icing on top of cake. Add cherry filling to middle. Add a wall of icing around cherry pie filling to keep it in the center of cake. Add top layer of cake. Cover in whipped icing, add cherry pie filling to middle of top layer. Decorate as you like.

Lasagna

 

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• 1 1/2  pound spicy Italian sausage

• 1 pound lean ground beef

• ½ cup minced onion

• 2 cloves garlic, crushed

• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes

• 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste

• ½ cup water

• 6 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, divided

• 1 teaspoons dried basil leaves

• 1 teaspoons salt, divided, or to taste

• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

• 3/4 teaspoon fennel seeds

• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

• 12 lasagna noodles

• 16 ounces ricotta cheese

• 1 egg

• 1 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced

• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese 

• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

• • 1. Cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic in a Dutch oven over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, and water. Season with, 4 tablespoons parsley, basil, 1 teaspoon salt, Italian seasoning, fennel seeds, and pepper. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.

    2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining 2 tablespoons parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

    3. Preheat the oven to 325 

    4. To assemble, spread 1 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with 1/3 of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with 1/4 of the mozzarella cheese slices and shredded mozzarella. Spoon 1  cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers twice, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.

    6. Bake in the preheated oven for one hour m Remove the foil and turn oven to 400 degrees and bake for an additional 20 minutes or until top is golden brown. Rest lasagna for 15 minutes before serving.

Birria Ramen

This soup is really good if you like spicy you're going to love it. I did change a lot from the original recipe. I will leave the link for the original so you can check it out. I love Birria tacos so I knew this was going to be good. I don't like cloves in any dish besides dessert and especially  Birria tacos. I left the cloves and cinnamon out of the recipe, I also changed the beef broth out for chicken broth.

Here is the original recipe https://www.marionskitchen.com/birria-ramen/

3 lb beef short ribs, bone in.

1 T salt

1 t pepper

2 T olive oil

1 onion, chopped

7 cups Chicken stock

1 package 10oz ramen

Marinade

1 7oz can Chipotle peppers in adobe sauce 

1 14oz can crushed tomatoes 

1/4 cup rice vinegar 

6 cloves garlic, chopped

1 t  Oregano 

1 t cumin

Toppings

1 cup chopped cabbage 

2 soft boiled eggs

1 jalapeno 

1 lime, quartered 

Fresh cilantro to top

Place beef ribs in a deep rectangle container, sprinkle all sides with salt and pepper.

Place all marinade  ingredients in a food processor,  blend until smooth. Pour mixture over beef ribs making sure they're well coated. Refrigerate over night. 

Next day place a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add olive oil, followed by the chopped onion.  Saute gently for two minutes.

Add the short ribs to pan scraping off excess marinade beforehand (reserve marinade). Cook, turning often for about 5 minutes until all sides are a golden brown. Pour reserved marinade over beef short ribs in pan, followed by the beef stock. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to low and cook for 4 hours until the meat is very tender and the bone has fallen out.

After 4 hours scoop up roughly half of the red oil that is sitting on top of the broth and place into a separate bowl or container for later.

Place a frying pan over high heat and add about two tablespoons of the excess oil. Shred the beef, when oil is hot add beef to pan and cook until crispy.

While the beef is crisping turn the broth up to high and when it starts to boil add your ramen noodles and cook until tender.

Divide between four bowls, add your Ramen, broth then top with your beef short ribs, cabbage, soft boiled egg cut in half, cilantro, jalapeno and lime.

Biscuits

 

These biscuits are really good. I will put the link to her page down below hope you get a chance to go over and visit her page.

https://sugarspunrun.com/easy-homemade-biscuits/#recipe

2 cups all-purpose flour (250g)

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1 Tablespoon granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter very cold (85g), unsalted European butter is ideal, but not required

¾ cup whole milk¹ (177ml) buttermilk or 2% milk will also work

• For best results, chill your butter in the freezer for 10-20 minutes before beginning this recipe. It's ideal that the butter is very cold for light, flaky, buttery biscuits.
• Preheat oven to 425F and line a cookie sheet with nonstick parchment paper. Set aside.
• Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a large bowl and mix well. Set aside.
• Remove your butter from the refrigerator and either cut it into your flour mixture using a pastry cutter or (preferred) use a box grater to shred the butter into small pieces and then add to the flour mixture and stir.
• Cut the butter or combine the grated butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
• Add milk, use a wooden spoon or spatula to stir until combined (don't over-work the dough).
• Transfer your biscuit dough to a well-floured surface and use your hands to gently work the dough together. If the dough is too sticky, add flour until it is manageable. 
• Once the dough is cohesive, fold in half over itself and use your hands to gently flatten layers together. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and fold in half again, repeating this step 5-6 times but taking care to not overwork the dough.
• Use your hands (do not use a rolling pin) to flatten the dough to 1" thick and lightly dust a 2 ¾" round biscuit cutter with flour. 
• Making close cuts, press the biscuit cutter straight down into the dough and drop the biscuit onto your prepared baking sheet.
• Repeat until you have gotten as many biscuits as possible and place less than ½" apart on baking sheet. 
• Once you have gotten as many biscuits as possible out of the dough, gently re-work the dough to get out another biscuit or two until you have at least 6 biscuits.
• Bake on 425F for 12 minutes or until tops are beginning to just turn lightly golden brown.
• If desired, brush with melted salted butter immediately after removing from oven. Serve warm and enjoy.

Wonton soup

 

I picked up one of those huge bags of the cilantro chicken wontons from Costco. I knew I wanted to make soup with it but it wasn't for sure what I was going to do with the rest since it's a lifetime supply for Just the Two of Us. But I think I will be making the soup a few more times so it should have a package covered and I may actually have to get another one before they go off sale.

Next time I think I will get some mushrooms maybe some dried shiitake and soak them in boiling water for a little bit and then add them to my soup, even chopped up broccoli would probably be really good and baby bok choy would be great in it. I like the mushroom and baby bok choy together ideal. I only had a zucchini and garlic and a little bit of ginger in my refrigerator so I just threw those in. But it's really a tasty quick soup. Be great for a cold night and something fast and easy to make when you get off work. From start to finish this didn't take no more than 20 minutes to make.

6 cups chicken broth

1-2 T  soy sauce

1/2-1 t finally grated Ginger

2 chopped garlic cloves

I  added one finely diced zucchini to it since that's all I had. But if I would have thought about this ahead of time I would have added shiitake mushrooms and baby bok choy.

4 thinly chopped green onions

30 small Frozen wontons. I used the chicken cilantro ones from Costco. Any wontons would work.

salt and white pepper to taste 

Sesame seed oil

garnish with chopped cilantro.

Add the first six ingredients to your pan and bring to a boil, add your wontons and cook until they're done about 5 to 7 minutes. Add your salt and white pepper to taste.  Ladle into your serving bowl and drizzle a little sesame seed oil on top and garnished with some cilantro.

Enjoy!

Surprise Pumpkin Muffins

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 3 tablespoons brown sugar 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp nutmeg 1/4 tsp cloves 4 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 5 tablespoons white sugar 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp nutmeg 1/2 tsp ginger 1/4 tsp cloves 3 tablespoons butter 3 tablespoons chopped pecans 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 2 cups white sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 tsp nutmeg 1/4 tsp ginger and cloves 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 eggs 1 1/3 cups canned pumpkin 1/3 cup vegetable oil 2 teaspoons vanilla extract Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease and flour 18 muffin cups, or use paper liners. To make the filling: In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese until soft. Add egg, vanilla and brown sugar. Beat until smooth, then set aside. For the streusel topping: In a medium bowl, mix flour, sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Add butter and cut it in with a fork until crumbly. Set aside. For the muffin batter: In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Make a well in the center of flour mixture and add eggs, pumpkin, oil and vanilla. Beat together until smooth. Place pumpkin mixture in muffin cups about 1/2 full. Then add one tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture right in the middle of the batter. Try to keep cream cheese from touching the paper cup. Sprinkle on the streusel topping. Bake at 375 degrees F (195 degrees C) for 20 to 25 minutes."

Sourdough Focaccia

 

This is a really good Focaccia, I added the link for the original post. Go check it out.

The tomato Focaccia is the recipe on the page. I changed one of them up to a jalapeno cheddar Focaccia. I added some olive oil, Italian Seasoning and then cheddar cheese then topped it with jalapeños.

https://veenaazmanov.com/sourdough-focaccia/

Levain

• ▢30 g Sourdough starter
• ▢30 g Bread flour
• ▢30 g Water

Focaccia dough - 75% hydration

• ▢500 g Bread flour
• ▢9 g Kosher salt
• ▢90 g Levain made ahead or use starter
• ▢315 g Water
• ▢1 tbsp Olive oil

Toppings

• ▢1 cup Cherry tomato halves
• ▢2 sprigs Rosemary cut into small pieces
• ▢100 g Mozarella thinly sliced
• ▢¼ cup Extra virgin olive oil
• ▢10 Basil leaves
• ▢1 tbsp Sea salt I used garlic sea salt

Instructions

• Levain - In a medium bowl, combine the sourdough starter, water, and flour. Stir well to combine. Cover and leave to rise for 3 hours at room temperature.

  Pro tip - You can make the levain for up to 5 days in advance and leave it in the fridge.
  30 g Sourdough starter,30 g Bread flour,30 g Water
• Autolyze - In a large bowl, combine the water, levain/starter, olive oil, and flour. Combine well until no dry flour is visible. Cover the bowl and leave it on the counter for an hour.

  Pro tip - This is a wet dough so don't be tempted to add more flour. A loose dough will give an open crumb.
  500 g Bread flour,90 g Levain,315 g Water,1 tbsp Olive oil
• Stretch & Fold - After an hour of resting, sprinkle the salt over the dough and knead the dough using a stretch and fold method for 2 minutes. Rest for 30 minutes, then stretch and fold one more time. Transfer the dough to a clean oiled bowl.

  Pro tip - You can use a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment if you prefer. But I usually just stretch and fold the dough a few times in the bowl.
  9 g Kosher salt
• Bulk ferment - Cover the bowl and leave the dough to rise in a warm place (24C/74F) on the counter for 5 hours or in the fridge for up to 12 up to 24 hours.

  Pro tip - Transfering the dough to a clean bowl is optional but I do it to avoid any dry bits that are stuck to the bowl from getting into the proofed dough.
• Shape - Transfer the dough to an 8-inch oiled cast Iron skillet or 9 x 13-inch oiled rectangle baking dish lined with parchment paper. Using the flat of your fingers, gently spread the dough in the pan.

  Pro tip - This is a high hydration dough so it will be very loose. Use a flexible bench scraper to work instead of your hands.
• Proof - Cover the pan with plastic wrap or a clean tea towel. Leave to rise on the counter until it doubles in volume for about 2 to 3 hours.

  Prop tip - You can also cold proof in the refrigerator overnight but use a lined baking pan or cast iron pan.
• Oven - about 30 minutes before baking preheat the oven at 425°F/220°C/ Gas Mark 7
• Assemble - Once double in size, create dimples/holes in the dough by poking your fingers into the dough. You can break the big bubbles but leave some to become crisp during baking.

  Pro tip - Dip your fingers in oil or water to prevent the dough from sticking to them. This will create better holes.
• Top - Dot the top with cherry tomato halves, slices of mozzarella, rosemary, thyme, basil leaves, and a sprinkle of garlic sea salt. Drizzle the olive oil all over the bread.

  Pro tip - Moisten the herbs with olive oil will prevent them from burning during baking.
  1 cup Cherry tomato halves,2 sprigs Rosemary,100 g Mozarella,¼ cup Extra virgin olive oil,10 Basil leaves,1 tbsp Sea salt
• Bake - Transfer to the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown. When baked, remove from the oven and cool on a cooling rack at least 10 minutes before you cut. Garnish with more fresh basi