Spicy Green Bean Fries

Spicy Green bean fries is a great alternative for chicken wings.This is a recipe from Rachel Ray show.Tried this on super bowl Sunday and turned out really good.The fried beans can also be tossed in the wing sauce but i suggest not to do so as it makes it soggy.Overall this recipe was a hit.

Ingredients:

1 cup flour plus 1 tablespoon, divided
1 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup hot sauce
2 cups Panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano,
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
green beans, trimmed
oil for deep frying

Method:

Heat the oil in a kadai to 375ºF.

While the oil is heating up, set up 3 shallow dishes on the counter:
Place about a cup of flour in one dish.
In the next dish, beat the eggs with hot sauce, 1 tablespoons flour, salt and pepper.
In the last dish, combine breadcrumbs with grated cheese, salt, pepper and cayenne.

Coat the green beans in flour, the egg mixture then the breadcrumb mixture, pressing to set coating.

Fry the green beans in small batches for about 3 minutes, or until they are golden brown. Drain on paper towels and season with sea salt.Serve and Enjoy with Ranch or Blue cheese dressing!!!

Halloween Cup Cakes

I made these cute looking cupcakes for my son's school halloween party.On my 1 st attempt they turned out really great.Its a vanilla cupcake and I used buttercream frosting for decoration. P.S: Couldn't capture a good pic as I was in real hurry to deliver these cuties..

for Vanilla cupcake:

Ingredients:
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 cups milk

Frosting:
1 lb confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup half-and-half
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°F.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add in the eggs, two teaspoons vanilla, salt and baking powder. Add flour and milk in batches, starting and ending with flour. Stir until batter is smooth and satiny.
Fill paper-lined muffin tins with batter. Bake at 375° for 18- 20 minutes.
Allow cupcakes to cool about 45 minutes and frost.
For frosting, whip together the box of confectioners' sugar, half-and-half, and one teaspoon vanilla until smooth and fluffy.

Lobster Rolls

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Greek yogurt
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 tablespoon chopped scallions
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Salt and black pepper
1 tbsp tarragon
1 pound cooked lobster meat
Bread rolls or hot dog buns

Preparation:

Mix the yogurt,mayonnaise, celery, green onions, tarragon, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl.
Add the lobster pieces, stirring to combine.
Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Butter both sides of the rolls and place the filling .serve immediately.

Creme Puffs

Cream puffs tastes so delicious and is so easy to make which is served during christmas holidays.creme puff or choux à la crème is a choux pastry ball filled with whipped cream, pastry cream, or ice cream. The puffs may be decorated or left plain or garnished with chocolate sauce, caramel, or a dusting of powdered sugar.The choux paste is piped through a pastry bag or dropped with a pair of spoons into small balls and baked to form largely hollow puffs. After cooling these are injected with filling using a pastry bag and narrow piping tip, or slicing off the top, filling, and reassembling.

Choux Pastry:
1/2 cup (65 grams) all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon granulated white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 -tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup water
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
Glaze:
1 large egg
Whipped Cream:
1 cup heavy whipping cream (35-40% butterfat)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1-1/2 tablespoons granulated white sugar, or to taste
Garnish:
Powdered (Confectioners or icing) sugar

Choux Pastry:

-Preheat oven to 400 degrees F , place rack in center of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly butter or spray the pan with a non stick cooking spray.
-In a bowl sift or whisk together the flour, sugar and salt.
- Place the butter and water in a heavy saucepan over medium high heat and bring to a boil. (Make sure that the butter melts before the water boils to reduce the amount of evaporation.)
- Remove from heat and, with a wooden spoon, add the flour mixture, all at once, and stir until combined.
- Return saucepan to the heat and stir constantly until the dough comes away from the sides of the pan and forms a thick smooth ball (about 1-2 minutes).
- Transfer the dough to your electric mixer, or use a hand mixer, and beat on low speed to release the steam from the dough (about a minute).
- Once the dough is lukewarm start adding the lightly beaten eggs (dough will separate and then come together) and continue to mix until you have a smooth thick paste (dough will fall from a spoon in a thick ribbon).
- Spoon or pipe 12 small mounds of dough onto the baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches (5 cm) apart. With a pastry brush, gently brush the tops of the dough with a lightly beaten egg.
- Bake for 15 minutes and then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
- Continue to bake for a further 30 to 35 minutes or until the shells are a nice amber color and when split, are almost dry inside.
- Turn the oven off, poke a couple of holes in each puff and, with the oven door slightly open, let the shells completely cool (and dry out).

Whipped Cream:
In a large mixing bowl place the whipping cream, vanilla extract, and sugar and stir to combine. Cover and chill the bowl and whisk in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes. When chilled, whip the cream just until stiff peaks form.

To Assemble: Split the pastry shells in half and fill (or pipe) with whipped cream. Place the top half of the pastry shell on the whipped cream and dust with powdered sugar. leftovers can be refrigerated. Makes 12 cream puffs.

Kachumber salad

This is a simple salad which is easy to make.It tastes good and appealing.The key ingredients tomato ,onion & cucumber makes this dish special. Variations of Kachumbari can be found in many parts of the countries.In Latin America, it is a variation of pico de gallo, or salsa fresca.

Ingredients:

Shredded cabbage
1-sliced cucumber Lengthwise (peeled
1-carrot
1/2 bell pepper
1 small tomato
any sprouts
1-small onion
chick peas-1 handful
few sprigs cilantro chopped
few sprigs mint finely chopped
1/2-salt
1/4 tsp-pepper
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp-chaat masala

Preparation:

Thinly slice all the vegetables lengthwise.Toss all the ingredients in a bowl.Cover and refrigerate to help blend all the flavors.serve chilled.

Tip: You can substitute any vegetable of your choice.you can also spice it up by adding sliced jalapeno pepper.

Cheddar Bay Biscuits -2

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour (unbleached or regular)
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/3 cup butter, cold, cut into chunks
2 Tbsp. canola or vegetable oil
1 heaping cup grated cheddar cheese (sharp flavoured is best)
1/2 – 2/3 cups milk
3 Tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. dried parsley flakes or 1 Tbsp. fresh parsley, finely chopped

Preparation:
-Preheat oven to 400° F.
-In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and garlic powder. Whisk together to combine thoroughly.
-Add chunks of butter. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut butter into flour until it is coarse, pea-sized (doesn’t need to be fine).
-Add oil, grated cheddar cheese and 1/2 cup milk. Stir together.
-Keep adding milk a bit at a time, just until the dough is moistened and no longer dry and powdery. (Shouldn’t be sticky, just moist enough to hold together).
-Drop approximately 1/4 cup portions of the dough onto an un-greased cookie sheet using an ice cream scoop or large spoon.
-Bake for 15-17 minutes. While biscuits are baking, melt 3 tablespoons butter is a small bowl in your microwave. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder and the parsley.
-When biscuits come out of the oven, use a brush to spread this garlic butter over the tops of all the biscuits. Use up all of the butter. Serve warm.

Blueberry Crumble Bars

Ingredients:

1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cold unsalted butter (2 sticks)
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest and juice of one lemon
4 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch glass or light-colored metal baking pan. Put a long piece of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan, letting the parchment extend up the two short sides of the pan and overhang slightly on both ends. (This will make it easy to remove the bars from the pan after they have baked.) Butter the parchment.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment combine 1 cup sugar, flour, and baking powder on low speed. Add salt and lemon zest and mix until combined. Add the butter, toss with a fork to coat with the flour mixture. Add egg and mix on medium-low speed until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with the butter pieces no larger than small peas. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan. Place reserved half aside.

In another small bowl, stir together the 1/2 cup sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.

Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely on wire rack then transfer to the refrigerator to chill before cutting into squares. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Source: Smitten Kitchen